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Jermaine thinks the Pacers are going to the playoffs

Jermaine O'Neal looked into the ESPN camera and guaranteed that we'll be seeing the Pacers in the postseason.

"I promise you that," he said. "You heard it here first. I promise the Pacers will be in the playoffs this year."

O'Neal did admit, though, that he wasn't so sure as recently as last month, after a 5-10 record in January. It's also worth noting that Indy is still a game below at .500 at 25-26 and merely tied for eighth in the East with Philly.

"I was worried about [the playoffs], but now these last two weeks we've been able to put a group of guys together and practice," O'Neal said. "I don't know any team that just shows up to games, but that's what we were doing because we [only] had like six or seven guys that were able to practice.

"But now we understand that we're in a position that we may not be in the playoffs, and more than anything that Reggie Miller said he was retiring. We can't allow him to go out on that note. He always says, 'Don't do it for me, do it for yourself,' but at some point we've got to respect what he's done in his career and what he's done for us. For guys that really didn't get the chance in other places, and allowing those guys to come [to Indiana] and have another youth movement and give us an opportunity to build our career on his time ... he's a guy that's a Hall of Famer and he deserves [one more] opportunity to win a championship."

Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.

Re: Jermaine thinks the Pacers are going to the playoffs

And there's also a statement by Flip about Kevin in there about how he probably shouldn't even be playing right now because of his injuries and how he cannot skip the allstar game because he would have to serve a mandatory five games on the injured list. That probably was the main reason Jermaine decided to play too considering how important every game is to the Pacers at this point.

Re: Jermaine thinks the Pacers are going to the playoffs

unrelated but regardless of what you think of Shaq's game you've gotta love his attitude:

Asked, then, why he used to zing 'Zo so much in the old days, Shaq explained: "I had to make those comparisons because we were two young ninjas coming in. Now I am shogun, loved by no one. I killed all the other ninjas before me."

Re: Jermaine thinks the Pacers are going to the playoffs

oh that article is full of the lols:

Vince Carter says he's not panicking (yet) about Jason Kidd trying to force his way via trade to Minnesota or somewhere else besides New Jersey. "We hope he stays," Carter said. "And the only thing you can do is each player can come out and play hard and let him see the potential of our team.

Re: Jermaine thinks the Pacers are going to the playoffs

Asked, then, why he used to zing 'Zo so much in the old days, Shaq explained: "I had to make those comparisons because we were two young ninjas coming in. Now I am shogun, loved by no one. I killed all the other ninjas before me."

It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

Re: Jermaine thinks the Pacers are going to the playoffs

I think the Pacers are going to the playoffs. 20 wins would put us up to 46-36. I completly think a run like that is possible. With J. O'Neal, SJax & Tinsley all back and a healty Freddie. Let Reggie be the player coach he is we do have a good shot at a playoof spot.

Re: Jermaine thinks the Pacers are going to the playoffs

Since we're into making these really bold predicitons, I'm going to go ahead and guarentee that this year's champion will come out of either the east of the west.

How is saying your team is going to make the playoffs bold? Would you want a player on your team in the public saying "Oh, I don't know. We might catch the playoffs, and we might not."?? That player would be hung.

What if someone from a school of business or management school were to ask, How did you do this? How did you get the Pacers turned around? Is there a general approach you've taken that can be summarized?

Re: Jermaine thinks the Pacers are going to the playoffs

How is saying your team is going to make the playoffs bold? Would you want a player on your team in the public saying "Oh, I don't know. We might catch the playoffs, and we might not."?? That player would be hung.

I don't like it when players make predictions. That's just me. What would I have prefered he say? "Its been a really hard first half of the season and we're not where we want to be. Coming into the season we expected to be in the playoffs and were striving to be in and win the finals. For the second half of the season we're going to have to play better to ensure we get to the playoffs. Winning it all is still our goal."

If Anthony Johnson or any of the other Pacers are lurking and you want someone to coach you on what to say I'm available.